Electric push-button.



W. SPARKS.

ELECTRIC PUSH BUTTON.

APPLICATION man APR. 25. 1913.

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WILLIAM SPARKS, F JACKSON, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO THE SPARKS-WITHINGTON COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

ELECTRIC PUSH-BUTTON.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed Apri125, 1913. Serial No. 763,538.

To all whom z'fmay concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM SPARKS, of

Jackson, in the county of 'Jackson, in the State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electric Push-Buttons, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,

. is a full, clear, and exact description.

in order to close the circuit.

Under' these conditions it is practically,

impossible or at least inconvenient to operate the button without removing the glove or mitten from the hand and the main object'of my present invention is to provide a push button which may be operated by the gloved hand or by the foot of the driver through pressure upon any portion of the surface of the cap or button.

Another object is to make the case including the cap serve as a dust and-weatherproof housing for the electrical contacts and otherinterior parts without adding materially to the size or cost of manufacture of the device.

A further object. is tonutilize the retracting spring for the cap as a part of the cir-- cuit connections between the contacts.

Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of'my invention will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of the detached circuit closer or push button.

Fig. 2 is a diametrical section through the same device taken'on line 22', Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of the case sections, .showing the insulating base and contact ringthereon.

Fig. (4 is a plan partly in section of the detached insulating base and the retracting spring leading to one of the binding posts.

Fig. 5 is an inverted cap.

This push button or circuit closer comprises a tubular case 1 having one end closed by a suitable base plate 2 for receiving and supporting an insulating base 3 and its opposite end closed by a cap l telescoping externally therewlth and adapted to tilt in any direction relatively to its axis.

A contact ring or annulus 5 is secured by suitable fastening means as a screw -6 to the inner or upper face of the insulating base 3 and is provided with a central opening. of suflicient size to receive a coil spring 7 without contacting therewith, one end of the coil spring bein seated in a socket -8' in the insulating ase 2.

An insulating bushing 9- is secured in a central socket 10 in the inner face of the cap 4r and is adapted to support a concavo-convex contact member -l1- which is secured to the post by suitable fastening means as a screw 12- with its concave side facing the contact member 5.

The upper or inner end of the coil spring '7- bears against and is electrically connected to the contact member 1l and serves to normally separate the contacts one from the other and also to return the cap 4 to its normal position.

The intermediate portion of the case plan of the detached -1+ is compressed inwardly to form an an-- nular shoulder -13 against which the inner face of the insulating base -3-- is normally seated and is held in this position by the base plate 2- which is secured to radially projecting flanges 14 on the base of the case -1 by suitable fastening means, as screws 15.

The case -1- and also the insulating base 3 are cylindrical, the outer end of the case being provided with an out-turned flange 16 cooperating with a similar inturned flange 17 on the cap 4 to limit the outward movement of said cap and to normally hold it substantially parallel with the base plate 2 or in a plane at right angles to the axis of the case, sufiicient clearance being left between the inner edges of the flanges 17 and periphery of the case to allow the cap to be tilted or moved axially toward the base plate for closing the -lPatented se t. a, rat a. i

This retracting spring forms a part of the a circuit connections between the contacts and for this purpose one end of the spring is extended laterally into a radial aperture 18 in the insulating base 3 as shown in Fig. 2 and is engaged by a binding post '19 which is screwed into said insulating base or insulated from the contact member The screw 6- also forms a binding post and to these binding posts are attached the circuit wires a which are brought out through an aperture b in the periphery of the case and connected in any suitable manner to a source of electric energy and to a horn or other device which may be desired to operate.

The contact member .l1 is insulated from the cap by the bushing 9 which together with the base 3 may be made of fiber or other suitable insulating material, said contact member 1l being circular in plan and of greater radius than that of the opening in the ring -5-- but of less radius than the outer diameter of said ring, the ring being of sufiicient Width to assure contact with the rim or edge of the plate 11 when the cap is tilted or moved from its normal position toward the base plate.

It will be observed that the contacts are coaxial and normally spaced a slight distance apart just suflicient to maintain a normally open circuit while the cap -4-- is of considerably greater diameter than either of the contacts, thus permitting-it to be depressed or tilted by contact with the finger, the entire hand or any portion of the knee or foot to engage the rim of the contact member -1l with the adjacent surface of the contact member 5 for clos ing the circuit and thereby operating the horn or other translating device which may be connected in the circuit, said cap .4. and contact l1 being turned to their normal positions to open the circuit as soon as the pressure on the cap is relieved.

It will be seen upon reference to Fig. 2

that the difference between the flange 17- and the top of the cap 4 -is considerably greater than the flange 16 on the case 1, such distance being greater than the normal distance of separation between the contacts so as to allow sufiicient movement of the cap either by tilting or direct inward pressure to closesaid contacts one upon the other, the spring 7 and limiting stops 16 and 17-- serving to hold the cap and contact member -l 1 normally to the axisof the contact ring 5- and case By closing the opposite ends of the tubular case 1 through the medium of the base plate 2 and cap 4., the interior parts, such as the contacts, binding posts and insulators, are protected against dust and moisforegoing description and the accompanying drawings and, While I have shown the retracting spring 7 as forming a part of the circuit connections between the contacts, it is evident that these connections may be otherwise made without departing from the spirit of myinvention and, therefore, I do not limit myself to the process of construction and arrangement shown and described. What I claim is:

A circuit controller comprising a tubular casing having substantially cylindrical portions of different diameters, the portion of lesser diameter formed with its free edge with an outwardly extending flange, a block of insulating material mounted within the portion of larger diameter, a cap telescoping externally with the case and tiltable and rectilinearly movablerelatively thereto and having a laterally and inwardly extending flange engaged with the flange upon the case to prevent separation of the case and cap, and normally spaced contacts within,

H. E. CHASE, EVA E. GREENLEAF. 

